Vieri's Convenient Vows

‘I’m worried that Alfonso knows we are not a real couple.’

‘Why do you say that?’ Vieri had made straight for the bar. ‘I thought he seemed very cheerful today. He had more colour in his cheeks, less of that grey pallor.’ Uncorking a bottle of wine, he poured Harper a glass and handed it to her.

‘Yes, that’s true.’

She watched as Vieri dropped ice cubes into his glass, pouring in a generous measure of whisky. With his shirtsleeves rolled up, his hair casually messed, he was the epitome of the billionaire playboy at ease. He was strikingly tall, his physique a perfect combination of long limbs and honed muscle beneath taut olive skin, his movements both graceful and dangerous, like a tiger on the prowl. Yes, he was far more handsome than was good for him. Or her for that matter. Despite her best intentions to remain aloof, he seemed to have the bizarre capacity to heat her skin from within whenever he looked at her, to set her body tingling with anticipation at the mere sound of his faint, but deeply sexy Sicilian accent.

Taking a healthy sip of her wine, she turned away. She knew she had to be on her guard. She knew she really, really shouldn’t be starting to look forward to this brief, early evening time they spent together. It wasn’t as if Vieri had ever given her the slightest encouragement, shown any interest in her at all.

In the few days since arriving in Sicily they had fallen into a routine of sorts. Vieri would work all morning while Harper was left to amuse herself. She had taken to wandering into Palermo, exploring the narrow, cobbled side streets and the exotic markets or ordering a cup of bitter dark coffee and sitting outside to watch the bustling crowds go by. The city was full of such colour and vibrancy, she was already starting to love it. Their afternoons would be spent visiting Alfonso and then in the evening Vieri would disappear into his office and she wouldn’t see him again. Despite being able to choose from the hotel’s extensive menu, prepared by one of Sicily’s top chefs, Harper had little appetite. Eating alone on the sofa, she would spend her time making calls to her father or searching social media sites on the Internet in the hope of finding some information about Leah. But there was nothing. Which only made her worry deepen still further.

Now she moved to sit on one of the cream leather sofas. ‘I did think Alfonso was looking better today, but that doesn’t alter the fact that he knows our engagement is a sham. You underestimate how sharp he is.’

‘I can assure you I never underestimate anything about my godfather.’ Vieri seated himself on the sofa opposite her, the ice clinking in the glass. He sounded vaguely irritated, as if she was a slightly annoying appendage that had to be tolerated in order to solve a problem. Which she supposed she was. But the more he treated her like that, the more Harper found she couldn’t hold her tongue. She was forthright by nature, and if something needed to be said, she couldn’t help but say it. Even if every broodingly dark muscle of Vieri’s finely honed body was silently telling her to shut up.

‘Then you must have noticed the way he looks at us, the way he takes everything in. He is not fooled by our pretence for a minute, Vieri. If you think he believes us, the only one being fooled is you.’

A muscle twitched ominously in Vieri’s cheek, silently conveying just how close she had come to overstepping the mark.

‘Well.’ With an exhalation of breath he leant back into the sofa, crossing one long leg over the other, his relaxed posture not fooling Harper for a minute. ‘As you seem to be so much more perceptive than me perhaps you would like to suggest what we do about it.’

‘Fine, I will.’ Refusing to be cowed, Harper placed her glass down on the table beside her. It was already half finished. She was drinking far too quickly. ‘First off we need to look as if we like each other—that would be a good start. Make eye contact, for example.’

‘I wasn’t aware we didn’t do that.’

‘Really? You spend more time looking at Alfonso’s nurse than you do me.’

Vieri gave a wry laugh. ‘Not jealous are we, Harper?’

‘Hardly.’ Her reply was too fast, too vehement. ‘Why would I be?’

‘Why indeed?’ Dark brows quirked upwards. ‘So, lack of eye contact, duly noted. What else am I doing wrong? I’m sure you are bursting to tell me.’

Harper frowned as she scanned his supremely confident pose. Yes, there were several things that she would be only too happy to point out to him, but many more she would keep to herself. Like the frantic beat of her blood when she was faced with that midnight-blue stare of his. And the fact that, far from lessening on a longer acquaintance, the impact of his powerful persona and stunning good looks seemed to be having an even more potent effect on her nervous system.

He altered his position, uncrossing his legs and running a hand over his jaw. For all his arrogant ease, Harper could see that he was waiting to hear what she had to say, even if he did intend to totally disregard it. Because beneath that languid exterior, Vieri Romano was as stubborn and unyielding as an iron girder. Well, fine, she was stubborn too. Something her father liked to hurl at her, along with a lot more colourful adjectives, when he couldn’t get her to procure another bottle of whisky for him from the bar at the Lodge, or give him the money so that he could stumble down to the pub for himself.

‘Well, your body language is all wrong,’ she began purposefully. Vieri had asked for his shortcomings so she would give them to him. It was too good an opportunity to miss. ‘And you are far too evasive when Alfonso asks you questions about us. And you jump in all the time, when he is trying to talk to me.’

‘Is that so? Clearly I am no good at this.’ Vieri took another sip of whisky and set the glass down beside him. ‘So, shifty-eyed, stilted posture, evasive and interfering. Is there anything else you would like to add?’

‘No.’ Harper pursed her lips to suppress a rogue smile. ‘I think that’s enough to be going on with.’

‘Bene, then we had better do something about it.’

Harper’s smile knotted inside her. Something about the glint in his eye told her she wasn’t going to like what was coming next. Ditto, his use of the word we.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I suggest we try some role play.’ Somehow he managed to make the idea burn with seductive intent.

Harper’s anxiety spiked. ‘Role play?’

‘Yes.’ His eyes travelled lazily over her increasingly tense frame. ‘A little role play will help us be more comfortable in one another’s presence.’

Being in Vieri’s presence made Harper feel many things but comfortable wasn’t one of them. And she strongly suspected that the sort of role play he was talking about would do nothing to help with that.

‘I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.’ She turned her head away, flustered, desperately trying to escape from the trap that was of her own making.

‘No?’ Rising to his feet, Vieri moved to stand in front of her. ‘Well, it has to be worth a try. Come on, up you get.’

Holding out his hands towards her, he gave them an impatient shake.

Harper swallowed, her mind struggling to come up with something to veto this crazy idea, the excitement tingling through her disobedient body already making this impossible.

Slowly she reached out towards him, preparing herself for the inevitable jolt of awareness that shot through her whenever their hands touched. And yep, there it was again, like a fizz of electricity running through her.

Pulled to her feet, she found herself standing mere inches from Vieri’s towering form, trapped by his height and power and sheer magnetic pull. And when Vieri lightly took hold of her shoulders, drawing her towards him, her heart, which was already beating double time, threatened to leap out of her chest altogether, to make a bid for freedom to prevent any further assaults on its ability to function.

But worse was to come. With a shudder of pleasure, Harper felt his hands skim over her shoulders and down her back, where they settled possessively on either side of her waist, spanning the waistband of her jeans. She tried to move beneath his possessive grip but that only brought her into closer contact with him and as their bodies joined she became acutely aware of his honed shape; the muscles that rippled beneath his broad shoulders, the granite-hard chest pressed against her breasts, the long limbs, one leg slowly edging between her own, sending a thrill of awareness through her as she sensed his growing arousal. Harper let out a gasp.

‘Hmm.’ Vieri moved his hands to her back and, lowering his head, whispered in her ear. ‘Interesting.’ Sweeping aside her hair, he very gently pressed his lips below her earlobe, before lightly travelling down the sweep of her neck. Oh, dear Lord. Eyes tightly closed, Harper involuntarily angled her head to allow him more access.

‘It seems we have found a connection.’ He raised his head and Harper opened her eyes to meet his. ‘Perhaps this won’t be as hard as we thought.’

Or a whole lot harder. Fighting to catch her breath, she moved inside his hold, intent on finding some control. But Vieri hadn’t finished with her yet.

‘Maybe we should try a kiss.’ He looked at her as if she were some sort of experiment. ‘In the interest of authenticity, I mean.’

‘I really don’t think that will be necess—’

But before she could even gasp out the words his mouth was on hers, with the lightest of touches, just resting there as if to see what might happen next. Harper’s breath stalled. No way could this be construed as a passionate kiss, not yet, but that didn’t stop it from feeling intimate, sexual, heavy with promise. With a thrilling certainty she knew just where this kiss could go, what it could lead to. And as Vieri increased the pressure she found herself responding, feeling the thrum of excitement explode inside her head as her lips parted and his tongue found hers, sliding against it, around it, softly persuasive, hot, wet and druggingly sensual, tasting and teasing in a way that made her whole body shake with longing. Pulling away, she just caught the briefest hint of surprise in his eyes before he lowered his head again to continue his relentless assault. She had no sense of how long it was before, light-headed from lack of air and the sheer, potent sexuality of the kiss, she finally managed to push herself away from him and drag in a gulp of air.

She tried to hide the tremble of her body. Never had she imagined a kiss could be anything like that, so intensely hot and wild and powerful, leaving her knees shaking and her ears ringing. It wasn’t as if she had never been kissed before. She had dated a couple of the local lads back home in Glenruie and it had been pleasant enough. Though not sufficiently pleasant for her to want to take the relationships much further. But she most certainly had never been kissed like that before. Thoroughly, utterly and completely possessed by a man who knew exactly what he was doing.

But it was just role play. Harper smoothed down her blouse, touching her lips with shaking fingers to check they were still there, that they hadn’t somehow melted or fused with the heat. What they had just done wasn’t real—whatever else, she had to remember that. Except now, of course, he had totally ruined her for any other man’s touch. Thanks for that, Mr Romano.

Bracing herself, she raised her eyes to meet his. And there it was, that assurance, the deeply held complacency of a man who knew exactly the effect he had had on her. It was almost as if he had branded her as his own. Well, they would see about that.

‘That’s quite enough of that.’ She deliberately moved away from him.

‘Really?’ A wicked smile played around his lips. ‘I was just starting to enjoy myself. I believe you were too.’

‘Whether or not either of us enjoyed it is entirely of no consequence.’ Harper pulled at the neck of her blouse. Why was it so damned hot in here?

‘Oh, I don’t know. I found it of considerable consequence.’ Mocking dark brows raised fractionally. ‘You may have noticed.’

Harper flushed violently. Why was it that Vieri was crowing over his physical attraction to her, whereas she felt she had to frantically try and cover it up? Because Vieri had been in control, that was why. Because he was used to seducing women, no doubt bedding a different woman every night, revelling in the power he had over them, using them to satisfy his casual sexual urges and then discarding them without a second thought. It was written all over his smugly arrogant face.

Well, there was no way she was going to fall for his smooth, well-practised seduction routine, no matter how good it might have felt.

‘We were supposed to be learning how to be easy around one another in front of Alfonso to try and make our engagement believable. Not getting involved with...’ she hesitated, hating the breathless catch in her voice, the way her cheeks still burned ‘...that sort of thing.’

‘That sort of thing?’ He was deliberately mocking her, loving every moment of her discomfort.

‘Yes.’ Her voice went up a notch. ‘You know perfectly well what I’m talking about.’

He certainly did. Vieri let his eyes travel slowly over her flushed face, lingering on the swollen pout of her mouth. His very physical reaction to her had taken him by surprise, as clearly it had her, the passionate nature of the kiss catching him unawares. He had thought himself firmly in control, never doubted it for a second but somehow, lost in the heat of Harper’s mouth, that control had slipped dangerously. In fact, if Harper hadn’t called time on their little role-playing exercise he wasn’t sure he would have had the willpower to do so himself. And then where would they be? In bed, that was where, at least if he’d had any say in the matter.

The image of Harper splayed across his bed had lodged in his mind and refused to be shifted. Her copper-coloured hair spread across the pillows, that shapely figure of hers waiting to be divested of its clothes, the no doubt sensible underwear he’d find and the pleasure he would take in slowly removing it. There was something incredibly sexy about Harper McDonald, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, though his traitorous body would have him putting his finger pretty much everywhere. And that would be just the start.

He gazed at her now, at the way those remarkable tawny eyes glittered with a mixture of arousal and defiance. She really had no idea how attractive she was and that made a welcome change from the sort of women he usually found himself surrounded with who, frankly, suffered from the opposite problem. But it was more than that. There was an earthiness to her, a sensuality that was entirely unwitting, just a part of who she was. Perhaps it was her Scottish heritage. Somehow she conjured up purple heather and damp bracken and soft green moss and how it would feel to lay her down on such a bed and make love to her.

Enough! Moving a couple of steps away, he adjusted the fit of his trousers. Taking Harper to bed was not part of the plan. He just needed to remember that.

‘Well—’ he adopted a businesslike approach ‘—if you are sure we are done here, I will go and get on with some work.’

Turning to leave, he had reached the doorway when he remembered something. ‘Oh, by the way.’ He looked back to where Harper was still rooted to the spot. ‘I meant to say, there is a charity gala here in Palermo on Saturday. Alfonso is a patron. He would like us to go.’

‘Oh, right.’ She didn’t even try to hide the despondency in her voice and for some reason that riled him. He wasn’t used to his dates being anything less than wildly enthusiastic when they were chosen to accompany him to glittering social events.

‘You will need an appropriate outfit.’ He raked his eyes dismissively over her casual jeans-and-top ensemble. ‘In fact, you should choose several outfits. There may be a number of social engagements we need to attend while we are here.’

‘I see.’

‘My driver will be at your disposal. And obviously you will charge everything to my account.’ Still she refused to look remotely grateful. Weren’t women supposed to like shopping? ‘I trust that won’t be a problem?’

‘No problem at all.’ She tipped her chin haughtily. ‘It’s your money.’

‘Indeed it is. And you are, to all intents and purposes, my fiancée.’ Mounting irritation scored his voice. ‘So please make sure you choose appropriately.’

‘Yes, sir.’ She tossed her hair dramatically over her shoulder. ‘Heaven forbid that I should embarrass you in any way.’

Vieri ground down on his jaw. Embarrassment was not one of the emotions this infuriating young woman stirred up in him. But right now he had no intention of examining the ones that she did.

‘Bene, that’s settled, then.’ He turned and strode from the room. Suddenly the need to put some space between them seemed vitally important.

CHAPTER FOUR

HARPER HAD TO admit that there was a certain heady excitement about going into these exclusive designer boutiques and knowing she could buy anything she wanted. At the mention of Vieri Romano’s name, the snooty shop assistants were falling over themselves to help her, parading a dazzling array of garments before her. In the end she bought a cocktail dress, a pair of tailored trousers and a fitted jacket, all of which, she decided sourly, would be considered sufficiently appropriate.

But still no ball gown. As she breathed in the expensively scented air of yet another boutique, Harper determined that she would not leave this one without the requisite purchase. She was quite sure that there were any number of beautiful dresses here that would be more than suitable. The fact that she didn’t feel right in any of them was because of the circumstances, not the gowns.

Finally she made her choice, a dark green lightweight velvet creation with a demure neckline and a full-length skirt. It was considerably less daring than some of the outfits, which was why she picked it. She didn’t want to feel sexy around Vieri. Not when just the memory of that clinch, that kiss, was enough to set her knees wobbling again.

She was arranging to have it delivered to the hotel when she was interrupted by a tall, striking-looking middle-aged woman who she had noticed idly flicking through a rail of clothes and who had now silently come to stand beside her.

‘Excuse me.’

Harper turned and gave her a friendly smile. It wasn’t returned.

‘Did I hear you say that you are a guest of Vieri Romano?’ The woman spoke perfect English.

‘Yes.’ Harper wasn’t sure what business it was of hers but she politely replied.

‘How very interesting.’ Perfectly made-up eyes swept over her from top to toe, taking in every little detail until Harper felt she was staring at her very bones. ‘And that outfit you are buying.’ She pointed a manicured finger at the dress being held by the sales assistant. ‘It is for the Winter Ball?’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘Then how fortunate for you that we bumped into each other. A dress like that will never do. Vieri will hate it.’

Harper frowned. She didn’t like being spoken to like this by a woman she didn’t know from Adam. In fact, instinctively she didn’t like this woman at all, but, positioned firmly beside her as she was, she was impossible to ignore. Sensing Harper’s reluctance, the woman gave her a forced smile.

‘How rude you must think me, my dear.’ She extended a hand weighed down with jewelled rings. ‘Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Donatella Sorrentino. I am an old friend of Vieri’s.’

‘Harper McDonald.’ Harper took her hand but found herself pulled into an awkward embrace, the soft fur of the woman’s mink coat crushed against her chest as several heavily perfumed air kisses were wafted on either side of her. Pulling away, Donatella studied her with highly critical eyes.

‘So tell me, Harper McDonald, how do you come to be accompanying Vieri to the ball?’

Harper moved a step away. ‘Alfonso, Vieri’s godfather, is a patron of the charity that hosts the ball.’

‘You hardly need to tell me that, my dear.’ Donatella’s eyes glittered coldly. ‘I suspect I know rather more about Sicilian society than you do. And quite apart from that, Alfonso Calleroni is my uncle.’

‘Oh.’ Harper was suitably chastened. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know.’

‘Why would you? How is the old man, by the way?’ She only just managed to stifle a bored yawn. ‘I have been meaning to pay him a visit.’

‘He is very frail.’ Harper chose her words carefully. She wasn’t going to be the one to tell this woman her uncle was dying, even if she suspected she wouldn’t give a damn. ‘But I think having Vieri here is cheering him up.’

‘I’m sure. And you? Where do you fit into this cosy little scenario?’

Harper hesitated. Apart from Alfonso, no one else knew about their engagement and she only ever wore the tell-tale ring when they were visiting him. To tell a woman like this, who looked as if malicious gossip could be her middle names, might be a dangerous thing. But on the other hand, what did it matter? People were bound to find out sooner or later and frankly the temptation to try and shock that supercilious face out of its Botoxed grimace was too great to resist. She took in a breath.

‘I am Vieri’s fiancée.’

The look of total astonishment on Donatella’s face was so great that Harper wasn’t sure she had actually taken the information in. She decided to clarify, just for good measure. ‘We are engaged to be married.’

‘Mio Dio!’ The words rasped from her throat before Donatella had time to stop them. But she quickly recovered herself. ‘How simply wonderful. Come, let me embrace you.’ She tugged Harper against her again, speaking over her shoulder. ‘Why, that means we are almost family.’

Harper suppressed a shudder. If she had thought her own family was bad enough, this woman was on another level altogether.

Pulling away, Donatella held her at arm’s length, gripping her shoulders that bit too hard with bony hands that felt more like claws. ‘To think that Vieri is finally to marry. You must tell me simply everything, my dear, where you met, how you came to fall in love, although Vieri of course has always been totally irresistible and you...you are such a pretty young thing. When is the wedding to be? This is all so romantic!’ She was babbling now, the words coming out in a rabid torrent. ‘We must have lunch.’ Fishing in her bag, she produced a diary, hurriedly flicking through the pages. ‘Now, let me see—’

‘That’s very kind of you,’ Harper interrupted, ‘but I can’t give you a date right now. I’m not really sure what my plans are.’

This brought Donatella’s head back up. ‘Your plans?’ Immediately she pounced on Harper’s mistake. ‘I’m sure Vieri will have everything mapped out for you both. He has always been so frightfully organised. When did you say the wedding was?’

‘I didn’t,’ Harper replied firmly. ‘We haven’t fixed a date yet.’

‘So this is all quite sudden?’ Cold blue eyes drilled into her. ‘You haven’t known Vieri very long?’

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